"CALYPSO "WAS AN OCEANID (OCEAN NYMPH). SHE IS INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL AND LIVES IN A BEAUTIFUL PLACE. SHE IS SAID TO THE THE DAUGHTER OF ATLAS WHO DIVIDES HEAVEN FROM EARTH. OTHERS SAY SHE IS THE DAUGHTER OF TETHYS AND A SISTER OF STYX. SHE IS A DEATH GODDESS FOR DESPITE THE CONNOTATIONS OF FERTILITY AND LIFE, FOR A MAN TO BE AMONG NYMPHS WAS SYMBOLIC OF DEATH...AN ETERNAL SEPARATION FROM THE MORTAL WORLD. SHE GUARDS THE FOUNTAIN OF IMMORTALITY ON HER ISLAND OF OGYGEA. IT IS HERE WHERE SHE INDUCED THE SHIPWRECKED ODYSSEUS TO STAY WITH HER FOR SEVEN YEARS.

CALYPSO ACTUALLY PROVED TO BE A RATHER POSITIVE FIGURE WHO PROVIDED ODYSSEUS WITH FOOD, DRINK, AND LOVE; HE EVEN HAD CHILDREN BY HER AND WAS HAPPY FOR AWHILE. AFTER THE FALL OF THE CITY OF TROY, HIS SHIP HAD BEEN SMASHED AND HIS SHIPMATES DROWNED, BUT ODYSSEUS HAD ESCAPED WITH HIS LIFE, AND THE BEAUTIFUL CALYPSO PROMISED HIM BOTH IMMORTALITY AND ETERNAL YOUTH. BUT ALL THIS WAS NOT ENOUGH TO KEEP ODYSSEUS HAPPY, AND HE BEGAN TO FEELS AS IF HIS LIFE ON CALYPSO'S ISLE WAS SOME SORT OF IMPRISONMENT. CALYPSO DID NOT WANT HIM TO GO, AND SHE TRIED TO CHARM HIM, BUT AS THE YEAR PASSED, HE STILL HAD THAT YEARNING TO RETURN TO HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN.

AFTER SEVEN YEARS, HIS PRAYERS WERE ANSWERED WHEN ZEUS SENT HERMES TO ORDER CALYPSO TO FREE ODYSSEUS AND SEND HIM ON HIS WAY HOME. CALYPSO GREETED AND HONORED HERMES WITH AMBROSIA, AND HE TOLD HER OF ZEUS'S DEMANDS AS THEY DINED. CALYPSO WAS UPSET THAT ZEUS WOULD ASK HER TO GIVE UP HER LOVER, AND SAYS THAT ALL OF THE OTHERS ARE JEALOUS OF HER AND HATE IT WHEN SHE SLEEPS WITH MORTAL MEN, BUT, AFTER MUCH ARGUING, SHE SAID SHE WOULD NOT REFUSE. SHE IS DOMINATED BY THE PATRIARCHAL GOD, ZEUS. SO, SHE ACCEPTED HER FATE, BUT IT WAS NOT IN HER POWER TO PROVIDE HIM WITH A RAFT OR A SHIP FOR HIS JOURNEY. INSTEAD SHE GAVE HIM THE TOOLS TO BUILD ONE HIMSELF.

AND WHEN IT CAME TIME FOR ODYSSEUS TO LEAVE, CALYPSO, IN A LOVING GESTURE, GAVE HIM PROVISIONS AND SENT HIM ON HIS WAY WITH A FAVORABLE WIND TO SPEED HIM ON HIS JOURNEY.